Since Josh is a mountain man who builds a cabin with his bare hands in the peaks of Colorado for a living, he was away for a few days this week, leaving Lisa and I to fend for ourselves. Fortunately, we had quite a few places in mind that we had passed up earlier in the week that were not too far from here, one of which being the already featured Crestone, and another being an alien observatory alongside the highway. Buckle your astro-suits and pressurize your cabins, cause it's going to be another trip to the New Age, and the road is groovy, man.
The day before I had called to see what their hours were. We had driven by before and it had appeared to be a small hut with some short scaffolding attached, and not much else. No cars, people, or anything. I got the answering machine, and was politely asked by an older lady to leave my phone number, and she would try to get back in touch with me. "Manu-manu," was how the message ended. I had to hang up before she got my laugh on record. If any aliens are reading this blog, can you please reassure me that that is universal for "have a good day" and not something like "I now control your thoughts?" Thanks.
So, we decided to just go and make the most of it. We managed to get there while someone was running the shop, which was what the hut had been. The scaffolding was the famed alien watchtower, where you could come at night to stand in the middle of the desert and watch for the visitors. However, the true jewel was vortex energy garden. The center of not one, but TWO energy vortexes. Apparently the tradition is to keep the energy going by leaving some small token behind; just anything will do, really, as it will be infused with your good vibrations and continue the flow. The interesting side effect of this is, that after a few years (WARNING: art joke ahead) it began to look like Dave McKean's closet.
In answer to your next question: yes, it was that awesome. Apparently there have been multiple sightings recorded at this exact place. I'll post the website at the bottom for those of you interested- it's quite the read.
Here, Lisa carefully monitors the skies from the observatory, maintaining a constant flow with the energies below her. After scanning the vista for a bit with no luck, we decided to head out. But, true to form, we added a bit of our energy to the swell...
Next up was Crestone. Driving out into the wilderness once again, we were now much more sure of where we were going, but we were completely unsure of what we would find. Unfortunately, once we did arrive, we found out that most hippies go home at 3 pm! A few of the stores we had wanted to check out were already closed, but we visited what we believed to be a tea shop on the corner of the road into town. (Yeah, you can get that specific with towns like these.) To our surprise, it was an organic produce/grocery store galore, with a wide selection of teas imported from all along India and China. The shopkeep was a soft-spoken lanky bearded man who was eating a pomegranate when we entered. After a bit of wandering around and not finding much in the way of tea, I decided to ask him about it. He laughed and took us down a narrow hallway into his office, where he proceeded to open two huge drums full of bags of sealed tea. He handed me a list and left us to peruse the tea selection while he attended to other customers. I'll just interrupt myself here to say, I love Crestone.
Before that moment, I didn't realize how little I knew about tea. Lisa had been to China for half a year, and began to educate me. We decided to try a Pu-erh tea, which according to a website I will post for you, is from the Yunnan province in China, and allowed to grow a thin layer of mold on the leaves to give it a distinct earthy flavor. The shopkeep informed me that the Pu-erh style of tea was many times used by nomads for its hardiness. I wasn't sure if I wanted to dive right in and buy a whole ounce before I knew what Pu-erh meant to me, and was told "No problem, let me set you up with a sampler of it." In a few minutes Lisa and I were enjoying hot steaming Chinese style tea on the front porch of his shop, surrounded by the mountains and saying hello to the regulars that came and went out of the store.
There's the sumptuous lady herself. While the Pu-erh tea did allow me to reminiscence upon my days spent among the mules in the Grand Canyon, the flavor corresponded more to the mules than the canyon itself (to me at least- form your own opinion.) So, we went ahead and tried an Oolong tea, which is somewhere between a Green and a Black tea in terms of flavor. After a few cups of Monkey-Picked Ti Kuan Yin tea, our conversation slowed to a halt, and we entered a Zen-like state of mind. We communicated with only a glance- our words became feelings.
Well, maybe- but we did have to look at each other and laugh. I knew I had to have more of this tea. As we were checking out, our state of mind was lingering, and I was neither here nor there- so when the shopkeep asked us if we were drunk, it took me a minute to recollect my thoughts and question the absurdity of his question. But by then, it was obvious, and he just smiled.
By then, the day was beginning to feel accomplished, and we started on the long road back home. However, let me take this time to reflect upon the fact that no matter where you go in life, you're always watching people. The more interesting question is... who's watching you?
A quick lesson on tea
The tea shop
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